Thursday, 13 March 2014

Totalitär

Totalitär should need little introduction for any fans of Swedish Käng Punk through various line up changes and quiet periods Totalitär have been releasing records since 1987 whilst this places them a little outside the revered "classic" era of Swedish punk they are none the less an essential part of that sound and were one of the only bands of that era to last some 20 years before finally calling it a day in 2007.

I wouldn't say Totalitär were a mysterious band but it would appear despite their popularity that not a lot has been written about them really and what information I have found on the net is sparse in fact I did a google image search for a picture for this post and i could not find one picture I had to lift this one from their discogs page however luckily it turned out to be the one i was looking for as one thing i do love about this band was the fact that tho adored by the crust scene as you can see above they were never really a "stud's'n'spikes" type of band.

I came across Totalitär in 1989 due to their "Luftslott" EP which was released on the brilliant UK label Loony Tunes Records this was before there was crust and a million sublabels it was all just punk or hardcore but Totalitär never fit neatly into either category in my opinion! As i have said their is little information to be had about this band so i'm gonna keep this brief but here's what i can tell you that they originally formed in 1984/5 it would seem that longest standing members of the band throughout the majority of their existence were Poffen - Vocals, Lanchy - Guitar and Andreas Lönnquist - Bass however it would seem according to discogs that the only members of the band to appear on every release are Lanchy and Poffen so I'm guessing that there has been a bit of a revolving door as far as the rhythm section is concerned. I believe though that as long as a band retains their original vocalist and guitarist they are generally consistent in sound and this is definitely the case with Totalitär, they are on of those bands that when you hear them you can be in no doubt who you are listening to.

So for the uninitiated what do Totalitär sound like? well they have a fairly unique guitar sound equal parts fuzz and classic Swedish punk thrashing the majority of their material is fast aggressive tight classic Swedish Punk however what separates them from the legions of band with a fast punk sound centered round a D-beat drum style is the fact that they are not afraid to mix up their influences or to slow the pace over the course of an album or an EP you are just as likely to hear things that will put you in mind of classic 80's European and American hardcore or just straight ahead punk! there's also some great melodies in some songs and above all even tho there are some 137 songs in this discography they do write some memorable tunes as well top that with Poffens unique vocal style which has an intense and urgent feel to it but isn't too gruff or too screamy and fits the music perfectly and there you have it Totalitär . I can understand with the speed an intensity of their music why the crusties worship them however there's far more than just D-beating and thrashing to be had here and that is i guess why Totalitär managed to endure for so long.

So onto your discography! I have managed with the kind help of Andy Agz Rose of Lord Agz 77 not 666 blog (find this recently resurrected and great blog HERE not only does he post great music but he's really funny as well) to actually complete the Totalitär discography and now EVERYTHING they did is here for you I have compiled some of these together in "packs" as there are 11 EP's 3 albums and 5 split LP's and EP's and i did not fancy giving you 19 links so I have given you each of the albums separately and packaged the rest into 2 files "EP's" and "Splits" but here's a breakdown of what's in them so you can decide what you want to take if anything!!

*NOTE* The majority of these files come from net downloads of vinyl rips but virtually none of these have been compiled on a CD outside the first 4 EP's being compiled on "Wallbreaker" however i have never found a decent qulaity download of "Wallbreaker", anyway bitrrates and quality vary from release to release but if you can find better quality versions then take them from there and send the links to me! Nothing here is of terrible or unlistenable quality guaranteed and this is after all raw punk would you expect pristine quality and production??)

Then there are the 3 Albums "Sin Egen Motståndare" "Ni Maste Bort" and "Vi Är Eliten" and that my friends is as far as anyone can tell me the COMPLETE works of this outstanding band. I have done this post before when i did a few posts on the classic Swedish sound last year but it was lost in the 4shared mess plus then i was missing about 4 or 5 items from the discography but thanks to good old Agz I am now able to present you this post I hope that Totalitär find some new fans through this as this band desperately need to be kept alive even if they don't exist anymore and I know for a fact that at least 3 of the releases i present here are not available anywhere else for free download i know i tried so go fill your ears with some fucking crashing classic Swedish Käng Punk!

Thanks for getting all of the 7"s and splits together as single downloads. Almost every track these guys put down is killer. I can't stop listening to the Spela Bort EP; total wall of sound (with something catchy going on at the same time). Cheers!

Hi sfdoomed yeah thats what I like about these guys the most although the majority of their fanbase would be the studs'n'spikes crusties they are just simply a unique band there's plenty of fast D-beat songs but there's also a lot of powerful mid paced stuff and some great melody! One awesome band! It did take me a while and a bit of help to complete the discography but I'm glad i did and glad so many people have enjoyed it.

Hey Dave, how ya doing? Long time, no comment. Sorry about that!Thought i'd request on a related post: do you have the GBG Hardcore 81-85 comp?And i may have asked a while back, but do you have the Raped Ass comps? (released on Agg records) Cheers!